


Blazing Suns

by SHIELD_Agent_Phoenix



Series: Twin Suns [1]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: AU, Crew as Family, Family Drama, Family Issues, Family Reunions, Found Family, Gen, Motherly Affection, Running away from your problems, Slight Sibling Sass, Slight stabbings, Stowaways, Twin AU, Twin!Kylo Ren, Twins, slight angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 16:53:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24100126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SHIELD_Agent_Phoenix/pseuds/SHIELD_Agent_Phoenix
Summary: Quinn Solo's life used to be happy. She and her twin brother, Ben, were training to be Jedi under the tutoring of their uncle, Luke Skywalker and everything was just perfect...until it wasn't. Now, she's on the run from the First Order, hiding from her brother, accidentally became a vigilante to the people of the bordering planets and is now captain to a small crew of misfits. None of that was ever on Quinn's bucket list, but somehow they had become her life. Until now.
Series: Twin Suns [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1804408
Comments: 6
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please feel free to leave a comment! Let me know what I'm doing wrong, or right. Any feedback is welcome, and any kudos or review is greatly appreciated!
> 
> P.S. This has been re-written and edited since its original posting, so feel free to read it again as the "new-and-improved-version"

Staring out into the cold, black nothingness of space, Quinn had never felt so small and alone. She wasn’t used to being so lonely. Ever since her old crewmates left, it had been hard to adjust to the ship being so empty. Every night reminded her that she was alone now, and that there was nothing she could do about it. Just like the night she lost her brother, where it seemed like she was the only person in the universe. That was the curse of being a twin, though. Without your other half, you always felt alone, and she had been without her brother so long that the soul-crushing emptiness she had felt that night had become normal for her. Her crewmate’s company had helped drown out the feeling, but now that they were gone, it had come back with a vengeance, and it didn’t look like it was going away anytime soon.

Sighing deeply, Quinn propped her feet up onto the ship’s dashboard and leaned back in the pilot’s chair, arms crossed as she got ready for another quiet and uneventful night of sleep on the ship. Most people were content to sleep in their own quarters, but Quinn vastly preferred the cockpit to the quarters. She wasn’t sure whether the empty void of black, or the scattering of stars was the reason, but something about watching space from the cockpit was extremely calming to her. Quinn chuckled as she remembered when she was a young girl, and her dad would joke about how she was born to fly, as well as commenting that she seemed more at home in the air than she was with her feet on ground. She didn’t understand him back then, but now that she had a ship of her own, she could finally comprehend what he was talking about.

In another life, she would have become a pilot, just like her dad. She would have left to explore the stars with her brother and never looked back. However, in this life, she was born with a far more powerful gift than her innate flying skills. Because she was force sensitive, just like her twin brother Ben, she was trained to be a Jedi alongside him by none other than their uncle, Luke Skywalker. She was a quick learner, excelling at everything Luke taught them and more, and for those brief few years at the academy, everything was simply perfect…until it wasn’t.

Naturally, Quinn blamed herself for not noticing Snoke’s influence on her brother sooner. Ever since they were born, they would do everything together. They were totally inseparable. If something were wrong with Ben, Quinn would definitely have sensed it immediately. At least, that’s what Quinn used to think. By the time she realized all that Ben had been hiding from her, it was too late. Ben had succumbed to the dark side, and nothing she could do would stop him.

Quinn managed to escape Ben the night he attacked the Jedi Academy. When she saw the chaos and destruction, she knew Ben was too far gone for her to reach him and ran as far away as she could. She made it to the farthest edge of the galaxy, and that was where she hid. She adopted a pseudonym and she continued her training in secret, occasionally having to run from the attention of the First Order. To everyone else in the galaxy, Quinn Solo was slaughtered the same night as the Jedi.

After she escaped Ben, Quinn knew she needed a new ship, so she traded in the little fighter she had escaped in for an old, beat-up smuggling vessel that barely qualified as a ship. To pay for the repairs to make it space worthy, she put in hours of hard labor at a local scrapyard. Yet in true Solo fashion, she went beyond simple repairs, and modified the hell out of it. Soon enough, the ship, which she eventually named The Eclipse, was space worthy. It was able to match any of the standard First Order ships for speed, was sturdy enough to take a few hits with little to no problems and it helped her blend in with the other riff-raff of the outer rim. Through being in the wrong place at apparently the right time, Quinn accidentally acquired a crew. However, simply hiding from the First Order grew tiring, and Quinn felt like she had to do something. She wanted to make a difference in the outer rim, to help those in need. Since it was still crucial that her identity stayed buried, she stuck with the pseudonym she had adopted when she first arrived in the outer rim. She still had her lightsaber, as well as Ben’s, but she only used them when it was absolutely necessary, and at this point, her connection with the force only held bad memories for her, so she disconnected when she could, which helped hide her presence from her brother. So now, she was the closest to a normal civilian that an ex-Jedi trainee could be. Together with her crew, they became somewhat like local legends throughout the border planets, and a ghost story to the First Order. They never stayed in one place too long and were constantly on the run. Through the years, Quinn got to know her crewmates, and they began to get really close. In some ways they even became a rag-tag type of family, and always had each other’s backs. They even helped fill the hole of loneliness that Quinn had been carrying around with her since she and Ben had fought.

But now, almost 5 years later and having said goodbye to her crew, that lifestyle wasn’t enough for her anymore. She felt like she had to do more, to be more. So, after a day of internal debating, Quinn decided that she was going to pursue information on joining the Resistance for a chance to finally come out from the shadows and back into the light. But for Quinn, deciding she was going to do something was infinitely easier than actually doing it.

The Eclipse had been drifting out in space for the past day and a half and Quinn was still half debating with herself if joining the Resistance was worth it, seeing as she would no longer be dead to the universe. Sighing heavily, she settled deeper into her chair, getting ready to drift off into the sometimes-peaceful deep ocean of sleep. Right before Quinn slipped into unconsciousness, her small BB unit came rolling up from behind and said, “ _Are we going to leave tomorrow?_ ”

Instead of the standard beeping noises that most BB units are equipped with, when Quinn had been fixing up the old droid, she put in a protocol droid’s voice processor. With a voice and a surprisingly large vocabulary, the droid’s personality began to emerge, and Quinn immediately regretted her decision. The droid, which Quinn started calling “BEE”, eventually became an integral part of the crew, although the sassy, rebellious side of BEE made her hard to love at times and her utter disgust and frequent hostility towards people who weren’t Quinn made it hard for the other crew members to not dismantle her on occasion.

However, now that the rest of the crew was gone, BEE was the only companion Quinn had left. With a deep sigh, Quinn sat up and looked over at the droid, saying wearily, “I haven’t decided yet.”

BEE’s small head cocked to the side, replying, _ “Well,  _ I _ for one think we should leave tomorrow” _

Sighing again, Quinn crossed her arms and replied flatly, “Duly noted, BEE, but seeing as I’m the captain on this ship, I have final say on the matter. Now, go to sleep so you can keep bugging me tomorrow”

BEE started rolling towards her charging port, then paused and said, with a cheeky tone, _ “You know this ship has an autopilot, right?” _

Quinn sat up slightly, glaring at BEE “…You wouldn’t.”

_ “Oh, I would. You’ve been debating over this decision long enough. I’m tired of seeing you lounge in that chair sighing and feeling sorry for yourself-” _

Quinn opened her mouth to defend herself, but BEE continued before she could get a word out, “ _ -so, if you don’t make a decision soon, I’m gonna make one for you. _ ”

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Quinn’s annoyed sighs echoed throughout the cockpit, “Fine, fine. By the time you power up in the morning, I will have made my final decision. Is that satisfactory?”

After a brief moment, BEE’s little head nodded, and then she rolled off to her charging port.

Once Quinn heard the familiar sound of Bee powering down to recharge, she let out a deep sigh of relief. Turning back to face the emptiness of space again, Quinn put her head in her hand, rubbing her eyes in an effort to combat the weariness of the past few sleepless nights. Whether Quinn wanted to admit it or not, BEE was right. She had been spending too much time debating over what should have been a simple choice. She needed to make the decision sooner rather than later, or else she would never decide on it. But as Quinn sat there in thought, she still found her mind to be a jumbled mess of contradicting ideas. Quinn still didn’t know what was holding her back from making this final decision, but whatever it was, it was as persistent as ever, and Quinn soon realized that there was no way she was making this choice in her current state. No good, life-altering decision ever came from an exhausted mind.

Leaning back in her chair, Quinn propped her feet back up on the dash and settled in for a quick nap. It didn’t take long before she fell asleep. Quinn was, by nature, a light sleeper, even occasionally sleeping with her eyes open. But this time was different. This time, due to so many previous sleepless nights, Quinn fell deep asleep. Deep enough that dreams started to fill her head.

But all dreams can turn to nightmares, and nightmares were why Quinn was such a light sleeper in the first place.

_ Rain poured down heavily, drenching Quinn to the bone. Panic, fear, confusion, all of that paled in comparison to the utter heartbreak she was drowning in. The rain helped hide her tears as she heard the screams and cries of her former friends and classmates getting cut down. Knowing she was next, Quinn gripped her lightsaber tighter in her already trembling hands and kept running, trying not to slip on the muddy ground. She ran, and ran, and kept running as far as she could, not daring to look back to see if her brother had dared follow, until a cliff edge brought her to an abrupt halt. She stared out at the plunging abyss before her, heart racing and lungs heaving. Tears still streamed down her face as she looked back and her heart sank as she saw what used to be her brother approaching rapidly. The Ben she once knew was gone, consumed by the dark side of the force, but it didn’t stop her pleading as he got within speaking distance, “Ben, stop.” _

Quinn became noticeably restless, starting to curl up slightly and her eyes were visibly darting back and forth under her eyelids.

_ The familiar blue glow of Ben’s lightsaber illuminated the night as he ignited it, ready to attack as he didn’t stop moving closer. The rain sizzled as it landed on the saber, sending puffs of steam rising from the glowing blade. Quinn’s voice grew more pleading, “Please, Ben. Please don’t make me do this.” _

_ Ben kept approaching. _

_ Tears still forming in her eyes, Quinn ignited her own blade, her knuckles turning white as her grip tightened to stop her hand from shaking. She repeated, “Ben, please don’t make me do this.” _

Quinn started muttering, still asleep and shaking her head back and forth slightly, her whole body getting more and more restless.

_ “My name is NOT BEN!” Ben lunged forward, striking what would have been a deadly blow if Quinn hadn’t blocked it. She and Ben had always been evenly matched in everything they trained in, but if there was ever one area of being a Jedi that Quinn excelled at more than Ben, it was lightsaber combat. Nevertheless, it was still a vicious fight. Ben and Quinn furiously exchanged blow after blow, their blades whirring through the air as they sent sparks flying in every direction. The two siblings were a blur of violent colors until Quinn managed to disarm Ben and knocked him down to his knees. There Quinn stood, panting, saber held up to Ben’s throat. She could end him right now, take revenge for her fellow jedi-in-training, but as she looked at him, drenched in rain and breathing hard, she saw staring back at her the eyes of her brother, before he was corrupted. The eyes of the man who comforted her through her bad times, who stayed by her no matter what, who was always there for her, who grew up with her, who knew her better than anyone else. _

Quinn continued tossing and turning in her chair, a small tear rolling down her cheek.

_ Quinn’s saber shook slightly in her hand, and the tears started streaming down her face. One more look into her brother’s eyes, and Quinn let her saber drop from Ben’s neck. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t bring herself to kill her brother. She turned her saber off, putting it back on her belt and taking a few steps back. She stood there for a moment, then grabbed Ben’s lightsaber that had flown off to the side and then fled from the cliffside. She ran past the burnt-out ruins of the academy, past everything that had been her home for the past few years. She ran farther than she ever had, far enough to make it to a ship. _

Quinn shot awake, her body tense and alert. Trembling and breathing heavily, she quickly wiped the few other tears that had joined the first one on her cheek. Taking in a few deep breaths to calm herself down, her hand unconsciously found its way to her belt, where her lightsaber hung next to Ben’s. She looked down as she ran a slim finger down the scratches on Ben’s handle, stopping at a little nick right at the hilt. Quinn smiled slightly through the tears as she reminisced about how it had happened.

On the day they were going to make their very own lightsabers, Ben and Quinn planned on making them identical to each other. But an accident in the construction process led to a small nick in Ben’s. Ben wanted to fix it so their lightsabers could still be identical, but Quinn urged him against it, saying that it added more personality to the handle, and how they could never mix up the two handles now. Ben agreed and kept the nick in his handle. As it turned out, fate had a sense of humor, and when they finally put the kyber crystals in the handles and ignited them for the first time, Ben’s blade was a stunning blue while Quinn’s blade was a vibrant green.

Quinn couldn’t help the slight smile that broke across her face as she rubbed the nick. But the smile was short lived as the memory, like so many others, turned bittersweet in Quinn’s mind, leaving her with an all-too-familiar ache in her heart. Even after all this time, Quinn missed her brother dreadfully. She had been walking around with half a heart for almost 6 years, and it had taken its toll.

Staring back out into space, Quinn wiped the last bit of tear residue off her face and tried not to focus on the pit of loneliness that had been triggered by that flash of a memory. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, no one else would really be able to fill the empty void that Ben’s betrayal had left. Quinn longed to have her other half back, to be back with her family and forget that any of this had ever happened, like waking up from a bad dream. But for now, all those longings were just that. Just dreams.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please feel free to leave a comment! Let me know what I'm doing wrong, or right. Any feedback is welcome, and any kudos or review is greatly appreciated!
> 
> P.S. This has been re-written and edited since its original posting, so feel free to read it again as the "new-and-improved-version"

The rest of Quinn’s night continued peacefully as she just gazed out into the black abyss of the galaxy, trying not to focus on her ever growing loneliness. Eventually, Quinn started getting sleepy again, and right as her head started to droop and her eyes began to close, a small beep from the dash alerted her back into full consciousness. Looking across the endless array of lights and buttons, Quinn zeroed in on the culprit that had interrupted her descent into sleep. It was the communications array.

Looking on the radar, she saw that between her depressed stares out the window and her second attempt at sleep, a small cargo vessel had come up next to her ship, and they were trying to hail her. With a tired sigh, Quinn accepted the communication, sitting up a little straighter and said, with captain-like authority and a healthy amount of defensiveness, “This is Captain Falknor of The Eclipse, can I help you with something?”

After a brief pause, a familiar feminine voice that Quinn hadn’t heard in over six months crackled across the coms, “ _ Well, I would hope you still remember your former crewmates. We haven’t been gone that long _ ”

Quinn’s defensive stance slackened, and a huge smile broke across her face as she said, in complete astonishment, “Stelle?!”

Stelle chuckled across the coms, “ _ The one and lonely, which reminds me, have you found me a girlfriend yet? _ ”

Quinn scoffed and rolled her eyes, “What the hell do you think I do with my spare time? Scour every bar, establishment and the like trying to find a woman who swings that way? No, Stelle, I have not found you a girl”

A disappointed sigh echoed across the coms, “ _ Oh well. I guess I’m still stuck keeping my fingers crossed _ ”

Quinn sighed, “Maybe if you finally realized that our lifestyle isn’t the best place to find a girlfriend, you would stop looking for one”

“ _ I’ll stop looking the day I finally find the right one _ ”

Quinn leaned back in her chair, “Something tells me that’s not gonna happen any time soon”

Stelle’s tone betrayed her annoyance “ _ I can still dream, Quinn _ ”

“Anyway,” Quinn leaned on the armrest to get closer to the coms, her eyes sparkling with curiosity, “What are you doing out here in the middle of space? What happened to finding your destiny elsewhere and traveling the galaxy? And what about Aiden? Is he still with you? Don’t tell me you two parted ways?

Stelle chuckled, “ _ Woah, woah, slow down. Don’t worry, Aiden’s still here, and as handsome as ever. As to why we’re here, our little adventure didn’t exactly work out the way we planned. We were thinking of finding you even before BEE told us you were leaving for the Resistance and gave us your coordinates _ ”

Quinn sat up in surprise, her face a mixture of shock and confusion, “Woah hang on, BEE did what?!”

There was a slight pause from Stelle, before she said, confused, “ _ Wait, you didn’t know? _ ”

Quinn’s confusion turned into annoyance as she glared over at where BEE sat, powered down and charging, “…No, I didn’t know about this”

Another slight pause, and then Stelle responded hesitantly, “ _ Oh…ok. Well, BEE contacted us a few days ago, letting us know that you were considering joining the Resistance. Naturally, Aiden and I thought you had told BEE to inform us. We both immediately decided we wanted in, especially since we missed you, and the ship, terribly. If we’re being honest, it was a mistake leaving The Eclipse. So, we packed up and left to follow BEE’s coordinates _ ”

Quinn couldn’t help but smile slightly as Stelle mentioned how she and Aiden had missed her. It was nice to know they felt the same way she did about them. Nevertheless, Quinn still had a question in the back of her head, “Ok, but I have one more question. Where did you get the cargo ship you’re in right now?”

A brief hesitation from the other side of the coms, and then, “ _ Oh yeah, about that... _ ”

Quinn sighed in anticipated disappointment, “ _ Please _ tell me you didn’t steal it”

Light chuckles came across the coms, followed by “ _ Nah, don’t worry. I was just messing with you _ ”

Quinn let out a deep sigh of relief, muttering breathlessly, “Oh thank the angels”

Stelle’s chuckle died down a little, “ _ Yeah _ ,  _ our former boss heard what we were planning to do and let us tag along with one of his restock trips. He’s just here to drop us off _ ”

Quinn nodded in approval, “Wow…that is really generous of him”

“ _ Yep! So, all we have to do is just board The Eclipse and then he’ll be on his merry way _ ”

Quinn’s mouth started to stretch into a smirk and she coolly said, “And what exactly makes you think I’m just going to let you board? You haven’t even asked permission”

A deep sigh echoed across the coms, and then Stelle’s voice, riddled with annoyance, said, “ _ Permission to come aboard, Captain Falknor? _ ”

Quinn chuckled quietly to herself at both the annoyance in Stelle’s voice, and her use of her fake name. When she first went on the run from Ben, she decided on the name Nym Falknor, and it just stuck. Due to being on the run so often, Stelle had given fake identities to her other crewmates, (Aiden’s was Kell Pilfin and Stelle’s was Faye Applo) but they still tended to use their real names when they were on the ship. Focusing back on the conversation, Quinn said, “Permission granted. Now, hurry up and get your sorry hides over here before I change my mind”

Stelle’s voice couldn’t hide her excitement, “Yes ma’am!”

After Quinn turned off the coms, she sighed contentedly. If anyone could help her with her struggle to make a final decision, it would definitely be her old crew. Glancing off to where BEE was still charging, Quinn whispered, “Thank you BEE” before heading down to the docking chambers.

As the boarding doors closed behind Stelle and Aiden, Quinn quickly enveloped them both in a big hug. “Oh, I’ve really missed you guys.”

Estellameer Ridley (who preferred to go by “Stelle”) was tall, lithe, and gorgeous enough to capture anyone’s attention, yet tough enough to disarm a band of bounty hunters within a blink of an eye. Stelle’s long, dark hair was pulled back into a thick braid, which was decorated with tiny silver charms that always seemed to catch the light at just the right angle. She tended to dress in dark greens and greys, which perfectly matched her stormy emerald eyes, and she always looked effortlessly beautiful in everything she wore.

Aiden Blackmore was more on the shorter side, with shaggy sandy-brown hair that never seemed to stay styled and bright blue eyes that hid his inner pain behind the twinkle of humor. His thick build and multiple scars pegged him as a brawler yet hid his gentle and caring personality. He mainly wore dark reds and browns and had the sneaky tendency to easily disappear in a crowd, a talent which came in handy for the crew all too often.

They first met when Quinn took The Eclipse on its first test flight. Once Quinn had made it into open space for the first time, she heard a strange noise coming from inside the ship and went to investigate, which is where she stumbled upon Stelle and Aiden hiding in a small storage compartment. When Quinn found them, she was rightly cautious and distrusting of the two strangers. Stelle and Aiden were about to tell her their story as to why they were hiding in Quinn’s ship when the conversation was cut short as The Eclipse was almost attacked by a First Order vessel.

Quinn quickly jumped into action, and Stelle followed her to the cockpit as Aiden volunteered to man the guns, which he said he had experience with. After a quick moment of consideration, Quinn decided to let them help her with the current First Order problem, given that none of them had plans on dying that day.

All together, they managed to escape by making a quick exit through hyperspace, much to Quinn’s relief. Now able to breathe free again, Aiden and Stelle sat down with Quinn and started to tell their story.

Stelle had been the only child of a decently wealthy spice trader and was poised to take over the family business when, in a sudden change of heart, her father arranged a marriage between her and the head of a larger, and wealthier trading family. Not wanting to marry a man she didn’t even know, and who was easily twice her age, Stelle ran away with the help of a couple childhood friends, and never looked back. Her father, however, wasn’t happy with the whole situation, and sent bounty hunters after Stelle with strict orders for them to keep her alive.

Aiden used to be part of a smuggler crew that was employed by an influential and sharp-witted former spice trader, who was now working in the black market. Long story short, Aiden had a change of heart once he found out about the illegal slaving ring his boss was running, and he reported his former crewmates and employer to the correct authorities, who dealt with them accordingly. However, Aiden’s former boss still had deep connections in the criminal underground and put multiple high-level bounties on Aiden’s head. Aiden managed to evade the initial wave of hunters and escape that planet, but he was still closely pursued.

While they were both on the run from bounty hunters, Aiden and Stelle ran into each other. In a moment of pure survival, they worked together to give the hunters the slip and make it to a shipyard, where they boarded a transport off that planet. After exchanging the reasons why both of them were on the run, Stelle and Aiden decided that they stood a better chance of surviving if they worked together. Now a newly formed fugitive duo, Stelle and Aiden kept hopping from planet to planet, never staying in one place long and making sure to watch each other’s backs.

One day, while trying to hide from some especially persistent hunters out in the outer rim, they chose Quinn’s ship for their refuge, hoping it would provide them a safe space to catch their breath and figure out what to do next. What they didn’t count on was Quinn taking off, and they grew worried as their hiding place had suddenly become their prison as they were stuck out in space.

After hearing Stelle and Aiden’s stories, Quinn’s heart had softened from the defensive stance she had taken when she found them. After some brief consideration, and some verbal displeasure from BEE, Quinn offered for them to stay on as her crew, seeing how well they were able to work together. Aiden and Stelle gratefully accepted, which sparked a beneficial partnership spanning almost 4 years.

During those 4 years, Quinn, Stelle and Aiden soon learned their best role around the ship. Quinn was a natural captain and the best pilot around, Stelle was an excellent co-pilot, a skilled diplomat and an expert strategist, due to her training as an heiress, and Aiden was skilled all-around in combat, smuggling and finding his way through crowds, cities and criminal undergrounds. Together, they became a small but mighty force to be reckoned with against the First Order, and the more they worked together, the more they got to know each other, and the more they started to trust each other. 

Through some unfortunate drunk flirting on Stelle’s side, Quinn found out that Stelle was really into girls. Unfortunately for Stelle, Quinn had to let her down gently, because in fact, Quinn wasn’t really interested in anyone, ever. Once that unfortunate incident was behind them, and Stelle was sober again, Quinn was finally aware of just how much of a relentless and unrepentant flirt Stelle was anytime they would stop at bars and the like. Instead of trying to stop Stelle, Quinn understood that this was just who Stelle was, and from that moment, she took it upon herself to be Stelle’s loyal wing(wo)man. There were many one-night stands that Quinn had to pull Stelle away from the next morning, but through those experiences, Quinn had done something that few others had ever done. She had earned Stelle’s heartfelt support and loyalty by just being a good friend.

Soon after Stelle and Quinn’s dynamic had changed because of the flirting incident, Quinn started paying a lot more attention to what was happening around her, and once she did so, she noticed little things about Aiden’s behavior that spoke volumes about his personal preferences. Aiden always looked extremely uncomfortable whenever girls would try and flirt with him at bars, which unfortunately happened quite often due to his rugged handsomeness. Quinn found it intriguing and decided to keep an eye on Aiden whenever she didn’t need to wingman Stelle. Whenever Aiden would give out compliments, or when his eyes lingered just a little bit longer then they should, or when he got flustered, Quinn found that, 10 times out of 10, it was directed at guys. One day, when they were alone in the ship, Quinn brought it up with Aiden, and asked him about it. But Aiden denied everything, telling Quinn that she was just seeing things that weren’t really there. Not wanting to push Aiden further, Quinn dropped the topic, ending the conversation by telling Aiden that he had her full love and support, no matter what. Maybe he was just awkward about it, or maybe he hadn’t truly accepted his feelings as part of himself yet, but whatever his reasons were, Quinn never pushed him to tell her, which meant that in Aiden’s book, Quinn had earned his utmost respect.

So that was the rag-tag, thrown together crew of The Eclipse. When they weren’t hiding and/or running from the First Order (and the occasional bounty hunters), they could be found hanging out in bars, getting into trouble and saving innocent civilians. Despite the occasional personal disputes, Quinn, Stelle and Aiden found in each other something that they had been missing. For Stelle, she finally had a supportive and understanding family who listened to her. For Aiden, he found the support and comradery he missed from his old smuggling crew, only this time it didn’t come with a side of crime and slavery. And for Quinn, she finally had the one thing that had been missing in her life ever since she escaped from Ben. She had a family again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now the whole crew was back together. We have the unrepentedly lesbian co-pilot, Estellameer “Stelle” Ridley; the closeted gay, Aiden Blackmore, whose closet doors are actually wide open and is also the gunner; a talking droid named Bee whose gender is sass; and to top it off, the captain and pilot, Quinn Becks Solo, who is as asexual as they come. All in all, a real group of misfits who would have never have come together if it wasn’t for betraying a former boss, refusing an arranged marriage and being in the wrong place at the right time. Because nothing brings people together like running away from your problems


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please feel free to leave a comment! Let me know what I'm doing wrong, or right. Any feedback is welcome, and any kudos or review is greatly appreciated!
> 
> P.S. This has been re-written and edited since its original posting, so feel free to read it again as the "new-and-improved-version"

Finally releasing Stelle and Aiden from a big bear-like hug, Quinn sighed in contentment, a big smile breaking across her face, “It’s so good to have you guys back on the ship”

Aiden chuckled, his deep rugged voice boomed throughout the small boarding room, “It's good to know we’re still welcome on The Eclipse”

Quinn kept smiling, “Of course you are. The Eclipse’s doors are always open to you two”

Stelle nudged Aiden, replying, “Just not the airlock doors, right?”

Quinn rolled her eyes, glossing over Stelle’s lame joke and asked, “So…what exactly have you guys been up to since you left to explore the galaxy?”

“Well, it wasn’t exactly planned but…” Stelle shared a looked with Aiden before pulling up her left shirt sleeve to reveal a completely mechanical forearm, hand covered with a glove, “this happened not too long ago”

Quinn gasped in shock as she reached out and grabbed Stelle’s hand, feeling the cold hard metal where warm human flesh used to be, “Good lord! What happened?!”

Aiden let out a chuckle before stopping when Stelle elbowed him slightly in the side. She then cleared her throat and began, “I kind of got into a little trouble with an angry Wookie at a bar. He almost ripped my arm clean off, but we managed to get away before he could. Since Aiden and I are quite comfortable in black markets and city undergrounds, we were able to locate prompt medical assistance that didn’t ask too many questions. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to save the whole arm, but at least they were able to amputate it safely and without complications. I was stuck with a nub of an arm for almost two weeks before we were able to find someone with enough skill to make this lovely replacement.”

Quinn continued to inspect the arm, her voice filled with awe and shock, “Wow, that sounds…extremely traumatic. Are you ok? How much of your arm is still left?”

Stelle gently grabbed Quinn’s hand, guiding it up her arm, “The robot part of me ends right about here,” Stelle stopped Quinn’s hand barely two inches from her shoulder. “As for your other question, I’m as ok as I can probably be, given the circumstance. The arm has some high-tech synthetic nerve endings, and extremely high-quality touch sensors built into the palm and fingertips, so in a lot of ways, it doesn’t even feel like I’ve lost my arm”

“Well, at least you’re still alive and roughly in one piece, so that’s good. How did you guys manage to pay for all this tech?”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. Together, Aiden and I have a surprising amount of connections within the criminal underground, so we called in a few favors”

Quinn nodded in satisfaction as she took one last look at Stelle’s new appendage before letting go of it, “Well, thank goodness the criminal underground has decent doctors. I’m glad you’re ok, Stelle”

Aiden looked hurt and muttered, “Of course you’re just glad about Stelle being ok, but what about me...”

Sighing, Quinn turned to face him, giving him her full attention, “Please don’t tell me you lost a limb too”

Aiden’s face broke into a huge grin, “Thankfully no. I learned from my old crewmates a long time ago to never to piss off a Wookie”

Letting out a sigh of relief, Quinn muttered, “Thank goodness. I’m not sure how well I could have handled it if you did”

With a playful shove, Aiden asked, “So, what about you? Any dashing new adventures from Nym Falkner?”

Quinn shook her head, “Nope. Compared to you guys, my life on the ship has been downright boring. Even the First Order has been unusually quiet.”

“Well,” Stelle said, coming up next to Aiden, “I would’ve much preferred boring as opposed to what we had to go through, but like my mom used to say, ‘We don’t get to stack the deck of fate in our favor. We just have to play the hand we’re dealt’”

Nodding in agreement, Quinn said, “Your mother must have been a wise woman. Anyway, you guys are probably ready to get back to your quarters, so I’m gonna take my leave and let you guys get to unpacking. If you need me, I’ll be in the cockpit, as usual”

As Quinn left Stelle and Aiden to find their quarters, she felt the pit of loneliness inside her diminish slightly and a smile started creeping its way onto her face. She turned to look back at Stelle and Aiden and seeing them standing near the boarding port sparked a memory and her mind flashed back to the day that Stelle and Aiden had decided to leave.

Around 6 months ago, during a period of low First Order activity, the crew was drinking the night away at one of their regular bars. After Quinn had left the bar early to take care of the ship, Stelle and Aiden got a job offer from a man called Albion Aumatage, a wealthy trader dealing in exotic (and completely legal) items. He was looking for some hired hands and had heard about the two of them through local stories. Stelle and Aiden were intrigued and told him they would consider his offer. Even though they weren’t technically contracted to Quinn, Stelle and Aiden still felt like they needed to talk about it with their esteemed captain and new best friend. They talked about it through the night, and by the time the morning came around, they had made their final decision. Stelle and Aiden’s desire for a chance to explore new portions of the galaxy ended up being too strong, and so they left to take the job from Albion, eyes full of tears and promising to stay in contact.

However, in all the time they were away, Quinn never heard from either of them. In the beginning, Quinn optimistically waited day after day to hear from them, but as the days turned into weeks with still no contact, she started losing that optimism. Eventually, she lost all hope and resigned herself to the fact that she would never see or hear from her old crew again. She never held any resentment towards them, though, figuring that they were probably too busy with their work and didn’t have any free time to spare trying to contact their old captain. Which was why it was a genuine shock to Quinn when Stelle’s voice came through the coms since Quinn never expected to hear that voice ever again.

And now Stelle and Aiden were back on the ship, standing exactly where they did when they left 6 months ago. Still smiling, Quinn turned and walked back to the cockpit, a newfound pep in her step. As she sat down in her chair, something about the ship felt different. It somehow felt…whole again. Like some universal wrong had just been righted, but Quinn shook off the feeling as she heard footsteps coming into the cockpit. Quinn turned to see Stelle and she couldn’t help but smile, “Well, well, well, someone knows how to unpack quickly. It’s nice to see my co-pilot back where she belongs” 

Stelle sighed in contentment as she settled down deep into the second chair of the cockpit, which Quinn had left untouched since Stelle and Aiden left. Closing her eyes, Stelle sighed again, “Oh, it feels so good to finally be back.” Sitting up, Stelle leaned over towards Quinn, “You won’t believe how much I missed our quaint little smuggler ship”

Quinn gasped in slight offense, “Hey! The Eclipse is  _ not _ a smuggler ship”

“True,” Aiden’s easily recognizable voice proceeded his entrance into the cockpit. He leaned his arm on the top of Stelle’s chair and smirked at Quinn, “It just  _ looks _ like a smuggler ship”

Quinn just rolled her eyes, “Well, I don’t really believe you would prefer The Eclipse to Albion’s legitimate trading ship. At least his doesn’t look like a pile of spare parts welded together”

“True,” Stelle said, leaning back in her chair, “but you’re forgetting that The Eclipse actually has a personality. Not to mention an extremely agreeable captain”

“Was Albion that bad that I’m now agreeable in comparison?”

Stelle smiled, “Well, you’ve always been agreeable to us, so that never changed. As for Albion…”

Stelle looked over at Aiden, who shared a knowing look and continued her thought, “He was a fair boss, but he was just that. A boss. We both prefer working with someone that cares about us as people, not just about how well we work.”

“Well I’m just glad you guys came back, even though I wasn’t the one who asked you to”

“Speaking of which,” Stelle leaned over the arm of her chair, head resting on her propped arm, “BEE mentioned something about the Resistance. Are you seriously thinking of joining them?”

Sighing, Quinn tried to avoid eye contact as she fumbled around an answer, “Well…yes, but also no…I just don’t know”

Raising an eyebrow, Aiden commented, “You just don’t know? Really? That’s what the great Quinn Falknor feels about joining the Resistance?”

Quinn glared at Aiden, “It’s more complicated than you think”

Stelle looked Quinn dead in the eye, her voice devoid of her previous humor as she said, sincerely, “Quinn, a lot of things in this galaxy are complicated. Hell, this whole crew is complicated. But the one thing that has never been that complicated for you was standing up for the innocent and choosing to fight the First Order. Why is it suddenly more complicated when talking about joining a group that’s doing the exact same thing we were just on a much bigger scale?”

“Exactly,” Aiden chimed in, “What exactly makes it so complicated that you’re second guessing it?”

“Honestly, that is a very long story…”

Aiden sat down in the only available seat and leaned forward towards Quinn, Stelle echoing his movements as they both seemingly settled down with interest. Stelle piped up, “Well, we’ve got plenty of time, so…why not just tell us?”

Quinn sighed, her hands fidgeting nervously as she considered the pros and cons of telling the truth. Finally, she took a deep breath and started, “Well, if I’m gonna come clean, I might as well be thorough. First thing first, when I told you guys that my real name was Quinn, that was only half true. My real last name is not Falknor, It’s Solo. My true real name is Quinn Becks Solo, and my brother is the man that the galaxy knows as Kylo Ren”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please feel free to leave a comment! Let me know what I'm doing wrong, or right. Any feedback is welcome, and any kudos or review is greatly appreciated!
> 
> P.S. This has been re-written and edited since its original posting, so feel free to read it again as the "new-and-improved-version"

As Quinn finished her story, a silence descended on the cockpit as Stelle and Aiden tried to process the truth bomb that Quinn had just dropped. With every passing second of silence, Quinn grew more and more fidgety as thousands of possible scenarios passed through her head.  _ What if Stelle and Aiden leave? What if they hate her because of her brother? What if they hate her for hiding the truth?  _ Quinn shook her head, trying to shake off those pesky intrusive thoughts. What was done was done and there’s no going back now.

Quinn looked up as Stelle stood from her chair and then, without a word, embraced Quinn. Stunned for a second, Quinn eventually accepted the unexpected show of affection and leaned into Stelle’s embrace. Aiden got up and joined in, forming a group hug that was never a part of any of Quinn’s reaction scenarios. After a few minutes, Stelle and Aiden released, and sat back down. Quinn, still confused as to why they both hugged her, asked “What was that about?”

Aiden spoke up, “It takes a lot of guts to confide in people, especially when you’ve been carrying a secret like that for so long. I was just really proud of you for stepping up and doing that, even though you didn’t have to. You could have fed us a lie, or maybe even a half-truth to get us to stop digging, but you didn’t.”

Stelle chimed in, “You put your trust in us, and we don’t take that very lightly. Plus, I know what it’s like to be betrayed by the people you love the most, and I can tell you’re still not over what happened with your brother. I’m really sorry that happened to you”

Quinn smiled sadly, and said, “Thanks Stelle. And you too Aiden. I must admit, that was definitely  _ not _ the reaction I thought you guys would have”

“What did you think we would do?”

“Leave…possibly hate me for hiding the truth from you…possibly judge me because of my brother…there was a lot of possible scenarios”

Stelle barely held back her chuckle, “Are you serious? After all we’ve been through, you thought that the fact you used to be a jedi and that your brother is Kylo Ren would make us pack up our things and leave? Really?”

“I was stressed, the room was silent for too long, I’ve never told my story to anyone before, there was a lot of new variables I’ve never dealt with before, I didn’t know what to expect”

Aiden interjected, “Are we just going to gloss over the fact that Quinn’s parents are literally role models for me and Stelle? I mean, come on, your dad is Han freaking Solo. A hero and aspiration for any young smuggler, including myself. No wonder you’re such an amazing pilot if you’ve got Han Solo’s genes flowing through your veins”

Stelle continued, “And General Organa was my hero growing up, and is currently the biggest role model I have. And she’s your mom! I think that information just kind of blew my mind”

Quinn shook her head, muttering, “Of course fate would give me crew members that just happen to be the biggest fans of my parents” 

“Ok, ok, anyway,” Aiden cleared his throat and leaned towards Quinn, “What does this all have with you not being sure about joining the Resistance?”

“Oh right, that,” Quinn took a deep breath to bring her thoughts back into focus, “I have spent the last almost 7 years hiding from my brother, The First Order, and even my own parents. Everyone who ever knew me thinks I’m dead, and I’m not quite sure I want to change that. Not to mention the fact that the leader of the Resistance is my own mother, and I don’t know if I want a family reunion just yet”

“Why not?” Stelle spoke up, “I mean, you haven’t spoken to your mother for 7 years and she thinks you’re dead. Do you have any idea how happy she would be if she knew you were alive?”

“Or how angry she would be.” Quinn’s hands started fidgeting again, and she tried to stop them, to no avail. “Not only have I been hiding for 7 years, it’s my fault my brother turned to the Dark side and became Kylo Ren in the first place. Trust me, I don’t think my parents would be incredibly pleased to see me”

Stelle spoke up, “Ok, let’s see if I’ve got everything. Your guilt about the First Order and Kylo Ren, plus your nervousness about coming back to life in a way, and your fear that being a Jedi puts a target on your head, not to mention the fact that you’re scared to see your parents again, are all that’s stopping you from joining the Resistance?”

Brief silence followed as Quinn thought about what Stelle said, and then responded quietly, “Uh…yeah…that about sums it up”

Aiden spoke up from behind Stelle, “Well, that sounds like the biggest pile of nerf dung I’ve ever heard. Those all sound like great excuses to hide the fact that your default reaction to things is to run from them. Well, I think it’s about time you stopped running from all of your problems and fears and started facing them for once.”

Stelle nodded, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I agree with Aiden. Listen, we don’t blame you for hiding. We don’t even blame you for running away. Trust me, Aiden and I know a lot about running away from problems. But joining your crew changed all of that for us. Being part of your crew made it so that we didn’t have to run anymore. I know you think that if you just turn your back on it, it’s gonna go away, but I promise you that it doesn’t”

Aiden chimed in again, “We made a deal a long time ago that we would always look out for each other, and that deal includes Stelle and I looking out for you, Quinn. It doesn’t matter what you did in the past, it doesn’t who is in your past, and it doesn’t matter what exactly you’re running from. What matters is whether or not you want to break the cycle and make a real difference in this galaxy. There’s no better way of making a difference than joining the Resistance and bringing the fight right to the First Order. Plus, you may even get your chance at a rematch with your brother.”

Stelle nodded again, and continued, “Aiden and I will be right behind you, no matter what you decide. We’re always gonna be by your side, so, what say you, Captain Solo?”

Quinn looked at Stelle and Aiden’s faces, in awe at the complete trust in their eyes. She turned to look out into open space, thinking over everything that had been said and discussed. Quinn knew they were right. She had been running for so long that it felt like it was her only option, but it was time to break the cycle. It was time her brother knew she was still alive, and as dangerous as ever. It was time for her to reunite with her parents. It was time to stop being “Dark Angel” and become Quinn Solo again.

Quinn couldn’t help the smile that started creeping across her face as she reached over and entered some coordinates into the ship’s navigational controls. Looking back at Stelle and Aiden, she smirked and said, “You know, I think it’s high time I finally came back from the dead, don’t you?”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please feel free to leave a comment! Let me know what I'm doing wrong, or right. Any feedback is welcome, and any kudos or review is greatly appreciated!
> 
> P.S. This has been re-written and edited since its original posting, so feel free to read it again as the "new-and-improved-version"

So,” Stelle said, arching an eyebrow as Quinn adjusted the controls, getting ready to go into hyperspace, “where exactly are we going?”

Quinn didn’t look up, keeping her focus on what she was doing, as she said, “Somewhere that we’ll find information on the Resistance…hopefully”

“Wait,” Aiden cut in, leaning on top of Stelle’s chair, concern starting to show on his face, “what do you mean ‘ _ hopefully _ ’?”

Quinn paused what she was doing, looking a little sheepish, “Well…the thing is that I haven’t exactly been there before”

Now it was Stelle’s turn to get concerned, “What? Then how would you know-“

Quinn held up a hand, “Listen, all I know is that a source of mine told me where an establishment is, and that in said establishment, I’ll find someone who knows something about where we can join the Resistance”

Aiden looked directly into Quinn’s eyes, “Do you trust this source of yours?

Quinn thought for a moment, then said, “Well…no, not completely”

Stelle looked even more concerned, “Well then why in the bloody blue blazes are you following his info?”

Quinn glared at both Stelle and Aiden, who were at peak concern levels at that moment, “Because he has never steered me wrong before. Sure, I may not  _ really _ trust him, but given that I rarely trust anyone, I don’t think that matters as much”

“Let me guess,” Stelle said, trying to put together the pieces, “you may not trust this source, but you don’t exactly have a choice because he’s your only contact with any connections with the Resistance”

“Exactly” Quinn nodded before turning back to finish the calculations into hyperspace.

Aiden also nodded, his face starting to show less concern, “Ok, ok, but who exactly is this person we’re going to go meet”

Quinn sighed, “All I know is that her name is Maz Kanata, and that she owns the establishment we’re going to”

Stelle started to look interested, “And  _ she _ has information about how to join the Resistance?

Quinn nodded, still with her back to the rest of the crew, “According to my contact, yes”

Aiden raised an eyebrow in genuine curiosity, “So, what happens if this Maz person doesn’t have this information?”

Quinn paused with her hand on the hyperspace controls, thinking for a second. After a moment, she turned and said, “Then I guess we’ll just have to find the Resistance the old-fashioned way.”

Stelle asked, “What exactly is the old-fashioned way?”

Quinn’s face broke into a smirk, “That’s where we raise hell against the First Order and hope the Resistance notices.” With that, she pushed a lever on the dashboard, activating the hyperdrive and sending the ship zooming off into hyperspace. Once they were safely on their way, Stelle, Aiden and Quinn all turned as they heard the familiar sound of BEE powering up.

As she finished, her little head looked from Quinn’s face over to where Aiden and Stelle were standing behind her. BEE’s little eye silted as she asked coldly, “ _ What on earth are you two doing here? _ ”

A slight smile grew on Aiden’s face, “Well, well, well. Looks like Stelle lost our bet on whether your personality had changed, BEE”

As well as the droid could, BEE glared at Aiden, “ _ And it looks like you two wastes of time aren’t dead yet. Pity, I would have preferred that _ ”

“Woah, woah,” Quinn said, starting to get exasperated, “Knock it off BEE. Honestly, I’m surprised at you. They told me  _ you _ called them here”

“ _ I left a message. Didn’t think they would actually receive it _ ”

“Well, we did.” Stelle said, annoyed, “If it wasn’t for that message, we wouldn’t even be here”

“ _ Hmmm, maybe I shouldn’t have sent it _ ”

Sighing, Quinn said, “I wish I knew what droid I got your core and vocal cords from, BEE. Maybe it could help me figure out why you hate everyone so much”

“ _ I don’t hate everyone. I just don’t like anyone who isn’t you, Quinn _ ”

“But why?” Aiden asked, crossing his arms, “What is it about us that you don’t like?

“ _Well, for starters,_ _you’re not Quinn_ ”

Stelle and Aiden looked over at Quinn, who shrugged and said, “Don’t look at me like that. I didn’t program her like that”

Rolling over towards Quinn’s chair, BEE asked, “ _ Are we in hyperspace? _ ”

“Yep,” Quinn said, checking to make sure they were still on course, “We’re actually headed towards Maz Kanata’s currently”

BEE looked up at Quinn, her head moving to the side a little, “ _ We’re going to join the Resistance? _ ”

“No, not exactly. We’re just going to get information, which may or may not help us in joining the Resistance”

“ _ And if it doesn’t? _ ”

“Well, then we make life a living hell for the First Order and hope the Resistance notices”

“ _ Ah, the old-fashioned way. My favorite _ ”

“Great. Now that that’s settled,” Quinn quickly stood up from the captain’s chair and headed out of the cockpit, “you three need to try and settle your differences. I’m tired of the constant squabbling and I want it to end. If anything happens, just let me know”

Stelle looked less than enthused about the idea of her, Aiden and BEE trying to find some common ground, “Wait, where are you going?”

Quinn looked a little nervous, but hid it well, “I…am going to go meditate”

“Wait, you meditate?” Aiden looked genuinely surprised

“Well, I haven’t meditated in almost 6 years, but right now, I have a billion thoughts running through my head and from experience, meditation is the best way to clear a busy mind”

“Well,” Stelle said, sitting up straighter in her chair, “in that case, good luck”

“Thanks, and good luck to you guys. I hope to hear that you’re all the best of friends by the time I get back”

Stelle rolled her eyes, “Well, I doubt that’s going to happen, but thanks for your vote of confidence”

As Quinn exited the cockpit and made her way to the cargo bay, she could hear Stelle and Aiden start a conversation with BEE, but she got too far to hear BEE’s response. Once she got to the cargo bay, Quinn removed her belt with both her lightsabers, and also her boots, exhaling sharply as her bare feet hit the cold metal floor. Walking over to the center of the bay, Quinn settled down into a cross-legged position, acclimated to the cool temperature of the room. Letting her hands settle on top of her knees, Quinn took a deep breath and closed her eyes, starting to focus her concentration purely on her breathing. With each exhale, she slowly let certain thoughts leave, beginning to clear her mind little with each breath.

Once her mind was clear, Quinn focused on keeping it that way. As she did, she could feel the familiar presence of the force, something she hadn’t connected with since the night her life as a Jedi came crashing down. After she escaped, Quinn vowed that she would never rely on the force and even started ignoring her sensitivity to it, eventually cutting off her connection to it. But now, she began to feel it’s pull, trying to call her back to the light. Instinctively, she fought it, her conscience curling up defensively in response. Yet, something deep within her kept telling her to embrace it, to stop hiding and return to the life she gave up.

Carefully and gradually, Quinn opened her mind, immediately feeling the comforting and familiar sense of connection that she hadn’t felt in over 6 years. But the comfort only lasted a moment before her connection with the force triggered everything she had experienced during the night the Jedi fell. The panic, the fear, the betrayal, all of it came flooding back, and it took everything Quinn had to stay calm through the onslaught of unwanted feelings. She focused solely on her breathing again, trying to clear her mind of those feelings and to return to her previous sense of peace.

Eventually, Quinn just let the force flow through her as it helped clear those negative emotions and bought her back to a state of Zen. As she focused on the force, Quinn started levitating. At first it was just a few inches, but as she continued her focus, she made it almost a foot and a half off the ground. Even though her connection to the force held negative feelings because of what Ben did, it held overwhelmingly positive feelings as well. Her connection reminded her of the best days of her life, when she and Ben were whole and happy. Days when she felt like she could do anything, as long as she had Ben alongside her.

Days that will probably never happen again.

As that thought came into her brain, Quinn’s eyes started tearing up, and her heart felt like it grew two times heavier. She lost focus and fell to the ground, where she curled up and cried. The whole situation reminded her of the night she escaped from Ben. She had just put a random coordinate in the fighter, and once she was well on her way, she just broke down and cried. That night, Quinn cried harder and longer than any other time in her life. There was such a flood of complicated thoughts and emotions running through her head at that moment. It felt like the whole world had come crashing down on top of her, and she now had to pick up the broken pieces all by herself and figure out what she needed to do.

Losing her brother that night hurt Quinn more than anything that had ever happened to her. In some ways, it was worse than physical pain. She never really recovered from it either. She still cried because of it from time to time, never when anyone was around though. Losing Ben felt like someone just ripped her heart out, and then only shoved half of it back. And the worst part was that she had no one to comfort her afterwards, not even her parents. At that moment, it was crucial that the galaxy think that she was dead, especially those who knew her. It absolutely shattered whatever amount of heart she had left, but Quinn knew it had to be done.

But now, that was all going to change, and change terrified Quinn. She knew continuing to run wasn’t the right answer, but that didn’t change the fact that she felt guilty about letting her parents think she was dead. And now, she was stressing about what she was going to do when she saw them again. How was she going to face her parents after everything she had done? She hid from them. She practically lied to them. She betrayed them by not stopping Ben. She started running from Ben that night and she never stopped. How were her parents ever going to forgive her?

Wiping away the last bit of tears from her unexpected cry session, Quinn sighed, wondering why everything in her life had to be so complicated now? Sighing again, Quinn pushed herself up into a standing position, stretching slightly. Now that she had connected to the force again, Quinn figured it was a little overdue for some practice. Reaching out with her mind, Quinn focused on her lightsaber, reaching her hand out as it wiggled for a second and then flew across the room into her open palm. Smiling in satisfaction, she called her other saber over, catching it in her free hand.

Igniting the sabers, Quinn assumed a training position, taking a deep breath before swinging the blades in specific patterns, as if fighting invisible assailants. The sabers were a blur of blue and green as Quinn progressively got faster and faster, quickly finding her rhythm. It had been months since she last practiced, but after a few minutes back into the routine, it was like she never stopped. For Quinn, her training sessions were the only thing left from her Jedi training that she kept, knowing that staying fit and trained would make the difference between life and death in a fight with the First Order.

Eventually, Quinn stopped, returning to her starting point in the middle of the cargo bay, breathing heavily. Disengaging the sabers, Quinn returned them to her belt as she walked over to the door, brushing her dark hair back from where it had fallen in front of her face. After quickly slipping her boots back on, Quinn made her way back up the cockpit. On the way, Quinn felt somehow lighter, her brain not as busy as it was earlier, although Quinn was unsure whether the meditation or the training had helped her the most. 

As Quinn approached the cockpit, she heard the raised voice of Aiden shouting, “I should have turned you into scrap a long time ago!

Quinn quickly entered, ready to break up a fight, “Woah, woah, what is going on in here?”

“Oh nothing,” Stelle said, leaning back in her chair, looking a little smug, “Aiden’s just a little mad that BEE thinks she’s superior to him”

Quinn sighed disappointedly as she turned her attention to the little droid, “Alright BEE, what’s the problem?”

“ _ Well, they left us. They just abandoned us, so why should I be nice? _ ”

Quinn looked confused, “Wait, wait, aren’t you the one who sent them the message though? If you didn’t want to be nice, then why did you do it?”

“ _ Because I knew they would help me convince you to join the Resistance _ ”

“Ok, fair. But how does any of that make you more superior to them?”

“ _ Because I was the only one who stayed with you. Also, only Aiden is a traitor _ ”

Quinn had to keep herself from laughing, “What? Why?”

“Apparently,” Stelle started, gesturing to her mechanical arm, “my new limb makes up for me leaving in a way, at least in the eyes of BEE”

“Wait, really?” Quinn was genuinely surprised

“Yep. Now, she only has a problem with Aiden”

“Great” Quinn sighed exasperatedly, sliding into her chair, “Oh why did I ever give Bee a voice to begin with?”

Stelle ventured a guess, “Because you got lonely and wanted someone to talk to?”

Quinn thought for a second, and then nodded, “Yep. That’s it”

Aiden spoke up, a wicked smile on his face, “You know, you could always take out her vocal processor”

“I could…” Quinn said, thoughtfully, before concluding, “but I kind of like her the way she is”

Before anyone could say anything else, The Eclipse dropped out of hyperspace, right above a vibrant green planet, dotted her and there with patches of blue

“Well then,” Quinn said, taking control of the ship, “lady, gentleman and droid, I believe we have just reached our destination

As Quinn landed the ship near a large forest, Stelle and Aiden headed straight to the armory. Aiden went with dual thigh holsters, complete with blasters, and a brown leather jacket while Stelle wore a cloak with two vibro-blades and a small blaster hidden in it. Quinn soon joined them, putting her lightsabers into an underarm weapon’s holster, typically used for blasters but one that Quinn had modified for this kind of use. A blaster in a thigh holster and a vibro-blade in a hidden sheath within her boot complimented her sabers, and her signature long, dark coat completed her look and carefully covered up her two sabers. As they exited The Eclipse, Quinn turned to BEE, who had followed them to the armory and now the hanger, and said, “You know the drill, BEE. Watch the ship and message me if anything happens. We shouldn’t be long.”

Before BEE could complain as usual, Quinn closed the door to the ship, taking one last look at the ship before turning and walking to the only sign of civilization: Maz’s place. As Stelle, Aiden and Quinn came up on the entrance to the place, Stelle said, “Does anyone else get a not so good vibe from this place?”

“Yeah,” Aiden said, nodding, “I have a bad feeling about this”

Quinn sighed, then said, “Nah, don’t worry about it. It’s gonna be fine. Now, before we enter, please remember that we are here for information and information  _ only _ . So Stelle, no hook-ups. And Aiden, no fights. I really don’t want to waste any time here. Is that clear?”

Both Stelle and Aiden nodded, although Stelle looked a little disappointed. They made it up the stairs where Quinn took a deep breath before entering the place. The noise and slight chaos felt strangely familiar for the three of them. They had been to enough bars and establishments that it didn’t really take them by surprise. Quinn noticed a lot of faces had turned and looked at them as they entered, and she felt uncomfortable with that level of attention. As she scanned the tables, she was about to tell Stelle and Aiden to try and blend in, until a lone figure caught her attention and set her heart racing. Quinn froze in her tracks as, for the first time in over 6 years, she saw her father, Han Solo.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please feel free to leave a review! I'd love any feedback!
> 
> P.S. This has been re-written and edited since its original posting, so feel free to read it again as the "new-and-improved-version"

“Hey, Quinn” Stelle put a hand on her shoulder, voice filled with concern, “are you okay?”

Still shocked, Quinn quickly brought herself back into the present. She took a deep breath, trying not to go into complete panic mode, and said, “So, slight change of plans. You and Aiden go back to the ship, I’ll stay here”

Stelle looked hurt, “But-“

Quinn put a hand on Stelle shoulders, looking her right in the eye, “Please, Stelle”

Something about Quinn’s tone and the look in her eye told Stelle not to ask further questions. Stelle quickly grabbed Aiden’s sleeve and said, bluntly, “Come on Aiden, let’s go”

Quinn didn’t really hear Aiden’s complaints as he was dragged off to the door. She was still so distracted at seeing her dad sitting alone at a table across the room. Quinn’s heartbeat was frantic, and her hands were shaking. This wasn’t supposed to happen, at least, not so soon. Quinn knew she would have to face her parents at some point, but she wasn’t expecting it to happen so soon. Especially not in some random space bar of all places. Trying to shake off her initial shock, Quinn took a deep breath, summoning every ounce of courage in her, and walked straight towards the back in the direction of the table her father was sitting at.

She tried not to make eye contact with him, but as she got close, Han looked up and locked eyes with her. Quinn noticed the moment it all clicked and recognized her. Han stood up from the table, still visibly shocked and shaken, and walked towards Quinn, who instinctively took the slightest step back, still maintaining eye contact. Han carefully reached out with his left hand, gently touching the side of her face, his own now a series of disbelief and joy. His eyes started to tear up as he whispered, “Quinn?”

Quinn couldn’t hold back her own tears that were starting to form, “…Hi dad”

Without another word, Han pulled her into an enveloping hug, gripping her tightly. Quinn just hugged him back, her tears hidden in his shoulder. As they embraced, it felt like a huge weight had just been lifted off her chest and Quinn felt like she had just come back home.

As Han embraced his daughter, his thoughts flashed back to when she and Ben were born. While Leia took care of Ben, Han held Quinn in his arms for the first time, and he was not prepared for the surge of emotions he felt. In that moment, he felt like his heart could have burst from the amount of love, and joy, (plus a little fear and inadequacy) that he felt. In that one, deep, emotional and unforgettable moment, he promised her and Ben that he would always be there for the both of them.

Since that day, through no fault of Han’s, Quinn had always been daddy’s little girl. Han even taught Quinn how to fly, much to Leia’s disapproval, and found, to his delight that she was a complete natural at it. He bragged that she got it from his side of the family, but in reality, it was most likely from her mom’s side. Quinn became an almost constant companion to Han, right alongside Chewie, and He loved watching her grow up to be the strong, independent young woman she became, and how close she and her brother were. Those two were nigh inseparable and got into trouble  _ together _ more often than when they were alone. On the day Ben and Quinn left to be trained by Luke, Han had his regrets, but he kept them to himself. He knew Ben and Quinn would keep an eye on each other and he trusted they would always keep each other safe.

Which is why he was completely blindsided by what Ben did. The news of what had happened absolutely broke him, and left his heart shattered. But as hard as it hit him, it had hit Leia harder. The thought that Ben had killed all those students was altogether heartbreaking, but the most unthinkable thing, the one thing that both Han and Leia just could not wrap their head around was that he had killed his own sister.

Han and Leia started to grow apart, and Han eventually went his own way. In some ways, he never got over Quinn’s death. That kind of loss was not something that you can really bounce back from. For the past 6 years or so, he went on thinking that he had lost his daughter forever.

Until now.

When Han had locked eyes with Quinn, he thought he saw a ghost. But as he embraced her for the first time since she had left to train with Luke, Han was flooded with emotions. He tried to keep it all in, to not show any emotion on the outside, but his muffled voice was choked up as he whispered, “I thought we had lost you”

Quinn whispered back, tears still streaming from her face, “I know, I know, I’m so sorry”

A moment passed before Han muttered, “Your mother’s gonna kill you”

Quinn couldn’t help but smile through her tears, “I am well aware of that” 

Eventually letting go, Han quickly wiped away any tears that may have formed on his face as he asked, “So, just where the hell have you been this whole time?”

Quinn chuckled ever so slightly, wiping away her own tears, “See, that is a  _ very _ long story”

Han shrugged and gestured to his table, “Well, I’ve got time”

…

After Quinn had finished telling Han the whole story, he just sat there quietly for what seemed like ages, before finally asking, “So, Ben really tried to kill you?”

Quinn looked down at where she had been fidgeting with her hands, replying softly, “…Yeah”

“And yet you still couldn’t bring yourself to hurt him?”

“I looked him straight in the eyes, and the eyes looking back at me were Ben’s. In that one moment, nothing could have made me kill my own brother. So, I ran. Haven’t really stopped running until now”

Han grew quiet again, thinking intently, until he asked, “So what exactly brought you here?”

“I got word that Maz Kanata might have information as to how I could find the Resistance, so I decided to follow up on the lead”

“You want to join the Resistance?”

“Surprisingly, yeah”

“Why”

“Well, I just got tired of hiding and running. Believe it or not, it gets lonely being a fugitive from the First Order. Plus, I’m sure the Resistance might appreciate a former Jedi on their side”

“What took you so long deciding to come back?”

This time, it was Quinn who grew silent. She crossed her arms and said quietly, “That’s…complicated”

Before Han could respond, there was a commotion outside, and everyone started to funnel outside. “What the hell is this about?” Han sounded annoyed

Quinn stood up, a hand slightly perched on her blaster, “Well, why don’t we go find out?”

…

As they made their way outside, Quinn was enveloped in a furry and rib bruising hug as Chewie saw her. She couldn’t really hug him back, seeing as her arms were now pinned to her side, but she managed to get out, “Hey Chewie, I missed you” before he thankfully let her go. As she got her breath back, Quinn looked up to see a large red blur in the sky, and then suddenly stopped over in pain as she felt a great planet-shattering level disturbance in the force. She couldn’t even hear Han’s concerned voice as her head was suddenly filled with the panic and fear of what seemed like millions of voices, all crying out for help. Just as the voices started becoming too much for Quinn to handle, almost as quickly as they had flooded her mind, all the voices were silenced, right as Quinn saw the huge explosion in the sky where she knew the republic planets once were.

Still with one hand on her stomach, Quinn covered her mouth and she whispered, “Oh my god…”

Just then, before Quinn could even begin to understand what she had just experienced, she heard someone say, “Han! Han!” and looked up quickly to see a young man running up to where Han and Chewie were standing, saying breathlessly, “Han, it was the Republic. The First Order did it”

Still trying to recover from whatever she had just lived through, Quinn asked, “The First Order did what?”

The young man, still slightly out of breath looked at Quinn with suspicion, “Who exactly are you?”

Quinn was about to answer, but Han interjected, “Finn, this is my daughter”

Seeing the look of utter shock and confusion come across Finn’s face, Quinn shrugged and said holding out a hand, “It’s a long story, trust me. It’s nice to meet you Finn, my name’s Quinn

Finn quickly shook Quinn’s hands, extremely distracted as he looked around and asked Han, “Where’s Rey?”

Now it was Quinn’s turn to be confused, “Wait, who’s Rey?”

Finn and Han both looked at her, and Quinn sighed and arched an eyebrow, “Let me guess, it’s a long story?”

Finn looked at Han, then nodded

Before anyone could say anything else, a small, wrinkly orange alien with large glasses rushed over to where they were standing, saying hastily, “Follow me, I need to show you something”

Quinn quickly glanced over at Han, Finn and Chewie, who all seemed to recognize whoever it was that just came up and talked. With no hesitation, Han, Finn and Chewie followed her, while Quinn held back a little before joining up with the group. They made their way through doors and the main seating area before descending some stairs into a large and deep underground tunnel. Quinn quietly whispered to Han as they went, “So…since when do you have so many friends?”

He sighed, “They’re not friends, they’re…”

Quinn arched an eyebrow, “They’re what, exactly?”

Han sighed, “Finn and Rey were stowaways on the Falcon who just so happened to be helping a wanted droid get back to the Resistance”

Quinn took the information in stride, getting past the ridiculousness of the story and asked, “Ok, now who’s the little orange lady who we’re following?”

Han smirked a little, “That is Maz Kanata, who I believe you were looking for before you ran into me”

Shocked, and just now realizing she probably should have asked for a description from her contact before flying halfway across the galaxy, Quinn managed to get ahold of herself and continued, “Ok…so what does the Resistance want with a droid anyway? And why is it wanted?”

“The First Order is hunting it down because it’s carrying part of a map to Luke”

Quinn almost stopped in her tracks in surprise when Han mentioned Luke. It had been a few years since she last thought about her old master. She always thought he was dead and that Kylo had killed him along with the other Jedi. Needless to say, she was extremely shocked to hear Han say his name in the present tense. “Hold on,” she said, still trying to wrap her head around it, “Luke is alive?!”

Before Han could continue the conversation, the group had come to their destination as Maz entered one of the side rooms of the tunnel, then quickly exited holding what appeared to be a lightsaber, which definitely piqued Quinn’s interest. Yet before she could ask any questions about it, Quinn’s wrist communicator activated, and Aiden’s stressed-but-trying-to-be-calm-voice came across,  _ “Hey Quinn?” _

Thoroughly annoyed at the horribly timed interruption, Quinn walked away from the group a ways before quietly hissing at Aiden, tone laced with annoyance, “Whatever it is, Aiden, it had better be important before I lose my temper”

There was a slight hesitation from the other end, before Aiden asked, “…define ‘important’”

Almost livid at this point, Quinn asked hastily, “What is it Aiden?!”

“ _ Well _ ,  _ I thought you might like to know that a fairly large group of First Order ships just came on The Eclipse’s radar _ ”

All annoyance left Quinn’s face and tone as something in her flipped from ‘ _ Unplanned family reunion mode _ ’ into ‘ _ Captain mode _ ’ and she asked quickly, “What? Are you sure?”

The stress started to get to Aiden as he responded, “ _ Am I sure? AM I SURE? Really?! Yeah, I’m pretty damn sure! _ ”

Quinn rolled her eyes as she said, her head processing countless strategies and solutions, “Ok, ok, calm it down Aiden, please?”

All calm had left Aiden as he said, panicked, “ _ I AM TRYING- _ “

There was slight static before Stelle’s much calmer and calculating voice came through, “ _ What exactly do you want us to do, Quinn? _ ”

After considering for a second, Quinn said, “I want you two to stay put until I say otherwise, or unless the ship is in danger. Got it?”

“ _ Don’t worry,  _ we’ve  _ got it, Quinn. Don’t die out there _ ”

Quinn smirked as she said, “I’ll keep that in mind”

After Stelle disconnected, Quinn let out a big sigh and then walked back to join the group. Upon seeing her return, Finn asked, “What was that all about?”

Quinn sighed again as she said, to the whole group, “Well, let’s just say that we’re about to have some company soon”

Right as she said it, a large explosion rocked the building above them, sending showers of dust raining down on their heads. As it settled down slightly, Quinn brushed off some of the dust in her hair and coat, then shrugged slightly and said, “The First Order just  _ loves _ their timing, don’t they?”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please feel free to leave a comment! Let me know what I'm doing wrong, or right. Any feedback is welcome, and any kudos or review is greatly appreciated!
> 
> P.S. This has been re-written and edited since its original posting, so feel free to read it again as the "new-and-improved-version"

As Quinn followed Han, Chewie, Finn and Maz on their way back to the entrance of the tunnel, she suddenly slowed down to a halt as an all too familiar presence flooded her senses and mind. Quinn hadn’t felt her brother since the night he tried to kill her, but the presence that was overwhelming her was undeniably him. Growing up, their bond was already quite strong, even as twins, but the force amplified it immensely. When they were still young, Quinn and Ben figured out a secret way for them to communicate by telepathy through the force, which worked for them because of their unique bond. They would talk though their minds all the time, which drove their mother mad at times and made them grow closer as siblings. While they were training with Luke, Quinn would try to use their link to her advantage by figuring out what Ben’s next move was before he did it. The last time Quinn and Ben were connected was the night Ben attacked the jedi temple. When Quinn escaped, she severed their link the same moment she decided to cut off her connection to the force 

Until now

As Ben and Quinn connected for the first time in 6 years, Quinn felt the almost overwhelming sea of Ben’s emotions. He was frustrated, desperately searching for something, and deep down felt an intense desire to prove himself. That all changed when he noticed Quinn’s presence. His thoughts curled up, leaving Quinn with the barest sense of what he was thinking, including a sudden confusion as he said, mentally, “ _ You’re supposed to be dead, Quinn _ ”

Quinn responded, also keeping her thoughts guarded, “ _ Well _ ,  _ life is full of surprises, Ben _ ”

A glimmer of curiosity flicked across his thoughts, and he couldn’t help asking, “ _ Where have you been all this time?” _

Quinn sighed, then said, “ _ Oh, a little planet called none of The First Order’s business _ ” before quickly severing the connection

Quinn didn’t want to deal with that kind of family reunion right now, because currently, she had things to do and most likely troopers to kill, and she couldn’t really let her brother distract her. Right as she managed to catch up to the rest of the group, Chewie was pushing the last bit of rubble out from where it had been blocking the tunnel entrance. From beyond the entrance, the sounds of blaster fire, explosions and people screaming were everywhere. As everyone exited through the newly uncovered entrance, Quinn stayed back a second, taking a deep breath and readying herself for a fight. As Quinn came up to the entrance, she overheard Finn say to Maz, “What about a weapon?!” and was just about to offer him her blaster before she saw Maz hold out the lightsaber and say, “You already have one!”

It took every ounce of Quinn’s self-control not to immediately take the lightsaber out of Finn’s hands at that moment. Quinn knew that lightsabers were tricky enough weapons for even a jedi to use, and she didn’t even want to imagine what could happen if one was in the hands of a civilian, who was almost a complete stranger to her. But before Quinn could even voice her complaints, Finn ran off out of sight, lightsaber in hand. Quinn sighed disappointingly, muttering to herself, “Oh sure, just hand the lightsaber over to the civilian. That  _ definitely _ won’t end horribly”

“What was that, child?” Maz asked, her goggles magnifying her eyes as they stared directly into Quinn’s

“Nothing,” Quinn lied, not wanting to argue with the person she needed info from, “I didn’t say anything”

Maz glared intently, still maintaining direct eye contact with Quinn. After a brief moment, she blinked, stared at Quinn for another second, said “Hmmmmmm” and then turned and walked back into the tunnel. Once Maz was out of earshot, Quinn rolled her eyes and whispered, “Crazy old woman” before grabbing her blaster and walking out onto the now rubble-laden land where Maz’s establishment used to be, quickly stepping to action as she shot two troopers right off the bat before diving for cover as another group of troopers fired at her. There were still some pieces of the walls scattered around, which offered fantastic cover from the trooper’s fire, but also provided the troopers cover from Han, Chewie and Quinn’s fire.

While hiding behind one of these wall fragments, Quinn took a second to glance at the battlefield, where she saw Han and Chewie hiding together behind another small wall section, and noticed Finn using the lightsaber to take out a trooper not too far from her. From what Quinn could see, Finn seemed to be doing alright on his own, until he got engaged in a duel with a trooper wielding a weapon that was unfamiliar to Quinn. It looked to be a baton of sorts but mixed with a mace and it seemed to be made of a material that was resistant to the lightsaber blade. At first, Finn looked to be holding his own but soon after, the duel started to take a turn.

Quinn sighed deeply, knowing deep down that she had to help him. No idiot civilian with a lightsaber was going to be dying on her watch. Quinn holstered her blaster before launching herself over the wall segment where she had been hiding and started running over towards Finn right as he got hit by the baton and landed hard on the ground. Quickly focusing on the force, Quinn pulled the lightsaber from Finn’s hands, where it flew quickly through the air and into her outstretched hand. Right before the trooper could land the final blow on Finn as he lay helpless on the ground, Quinn ignited the saber and made it over just fast enough that she was able to block his swing. With the swift and smooth movements of a practiced fighter, Quinn caught the trooper’s legs with one foot, knocking him over and, with no hesitation, plunging the saber through his chest as he fell, killing him instantly.

Promptly disengaging the saber, Quinn turned to see Finn, shocked to still be alive, and then Han and Chewie running up behind him. Reaching out to Finn with her free hand, Quinn asked, “Are you ok?”

Finn nodded and grabbed her hand, letting Quinn help him up to his feet. Before anyone could say anything, the muffled voice of a First Order stormtrooper said, “Freeze!”, and Quinn looked up to see that the surprisingly large group of surviving troopers now had them all surrounded, guns at the ready. The first trooper gestured with his gun, “Put your hands up”

After quick consideration of her options, Quinn reluctantly put her hands up. Sure, she could have tried to take these troopers on by herself, but there was a big chance of Han, Chewie or Finn getting hurt in the process if she tried that, and that was a chance Quinn was  _ not _ willing to take. But just because she wasn’t going to fight her way out this time did not mean she didn’t at least have one trick up her sleeve. After all, she was her father’s daughter. Once the time came to confiscate weapons, as a trooper took the lightsaber that was in her hand, as well as her blaster, and was starting to pat her down for any more weapons, Quinn took a moment to focus in the force as she subtly waved her hand, and while channeling the force, she said, too quiet for anyone else to hear, “I’m all clear.”

For a brief second, Quinn worried that it didn’t work and that she just made the situation worse, but then the trooper loudly said, “This one’s all clear” before moving on. Quinn subtly smiled, trying hard to contain her excitement that her plan actually worked. Now, even if they were taken to a ship, Quinn still had her own two lightsabers on hand, and there was quite a lot of damage that she could do with those if she wanted to. 

As they were being escorted to a ship, Quinn heard a faint noise off in the distance. A noise that sounded an awful lot like X-Wings. Looking around, Quinn saw that the rest of the group had heard it too, including the troopers. Quinn caught Finn exchanging a knowing look with Han, who said confidently, “It’s the Resistance”

At that moment, Quinn’s instincts were proven correct as she saw a squadron of incoming X-Wings. As the fighters distracted the troopers, Quinn muttered, “Thank goodness” and then elbowed the trooper directly to her right, quickly grabbing, and igniting, the lightsaber he had confiscated and stabbing him right in the side. As his body crumpled to the ground, the rest of the group had grabbed their own weapons. Quinn gave the lightsaber a little twirl, testing for its weight and balance. After some quick consideration, she handed the saber to Finn, looking at him dead in the eyes, saying with full sincerity, “Please, do not make me regret this”

As Finn ran off to fight, welding the lightsaber again, Quinn sighed as she pulled one of her own sabers from its underarm holster. After taking a deep breath, Quinn unleashed her inner jedi warrior against the nearby stormtroopers, even though maneuvering around the battlefield had become infinitely harder as the X-Wings kept shooting at the troopers on the ground, causing explosions and debris. But, despite the new obstacles, Quinn made quick work of any remaining troopers, and, although it was hard to admit, she actually really enjoyed it. It felt so good, even cathartic, to fight with her saber again, especially after hiding it for so long. With each trooper she mowed down, her movements got faster and smoother and it wasn’t long before she was a blur of green across the battlefield.

But just as soon as the fight had started, it seemed to be all over. Now breathing hard from exhilaration and exertion, and trying hard to hide a smile, Quinn suddenly felt Ben’s presence again, and looked over across the field just in time to see him carrying what looked to be a young woman to his ship. Finn seemed to notice Ben too, and sprinted across the battlefield, trying to catch up with him, but he just wasn’t fast enough to catch up with Ben, and as he flew off, Finn yelled out “Rey!”

Instead of standing around, Finn immediately ran off to find Han, and Quinn was just about to follow him until her comms lit up again, and Stelle’s extremely worried voice came across, “ _ Quinn?! _ ”

Still slightly out of breath and full of adrenaline, Quinn quickly responded, “Hey Stelle, I’m still here”

Stelle sighed in relief, “ _ Oh thank god. You had us both worried-” _

“ _ Correction _ ,” Aiden’s now much calmer voice came through the comms, “ _ You had Stelle worried. I wasn’t really that concerned for you _ ”

Stelle’s voice got more annoyed, “ _ -ok, yes. You had me worried. Is everything ok down there? _ ”

Quinn rolled her eyes, smiling at Stelle and Aiden’s antics, “Yeah, yeah, everything’s fine down here. Are you guys ok?”

“ _ Just peachy. We were actually about to provide air support for you before the Resistance showed up _ ”

“Well then, it’s a good thing the Resistance showed up then. I wouldn’t want you guys in danger like that”

“ _ Eh, we could have handled it, and you know we could _ ”

“Yeah, yeah, I know you could, I just didn’t want…” Quinn trailed off as she looked across the open battlefield at one of the Resistance ships that had landed. The doors were opening and as people rushed off, Quinn recognized the last person who exited, as it was none other than General Leia Organa Solo, but Quinn knew her better as Mom.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please feel free to leave a comment! Let me know what I'm doing wrong, or right. Any feedback is welcome, and any kudos or review is greatly appreciated!
> 
> P.S. This has been re-written and edited since its original posting, so feel free to read it again as the "new-and-improved-version"

Quinn’s heart skipped a beat as it felt like her feet were glued to the ground. Accidentally running into her father in the bar was emotional enough, but now there was her mother, standing not that far away. Quinn wasn’t sure if her heart could handle this many complex emotions in one day, but she managed to shake that feeling off. She would just cross that bridge when she came to it

As she came back to the present, she heard Stelle’s concerned voice still coming from her comms,  _ “-Quinn? Quinn? Can you hear me? Hello? What’s going on? Quinn?” _

Quinn quickly answered, “Oh, yeah, sorry about that Stelle, I’m still here”

“ _ What the devil is going on with you today? That’s twice now that you’ve spaced out on us _ ”

Sighing, Quinn debated whether she wanted to talk about now, or just wait until later, when she got back to the ship. She decided on later. “Look guys, I promise I will explain everything later once I get back to the ship, but until then, please just stay where you are and look after BEE and The Eclipse”

Before either Stelle or Aiden had a chance to argue with her about staying on the ship, Quinn turned her comms off. She really didn’t want them interrupting another important conversation. Taking a deep breath to get all her jumbled thoughts in order, Quinn started walking over to where Han was standing with Leia, probably telling her about how Quinn was actually still alive. As she got close, they stopped talking as Leia locked eyes with Quinn, causing her to stop in her tracks. They both stood there for a moment, Quinn not really knowing what to do. Right as Quinn was about to say, “I’m sorry”, Leia embraced her before she could get a single word out.

Shocked for a moment, Quinn quickly got past it and hugged her mom back, holding her tight. With that one single hug, Quinn felt like a huge load had just been taken off of her. She had missed her mom the most when Quinn went on the run, and although she had played in her mind over and over again about what this moment might be like, she had never expected to be welcomed with open arms.

As Leia embraced her daughter, her mind flashed back to when she was hugging Quinn goodbye before she and Ben went off to train with Luke. As they were hugging, Leia didn’t want to let her go, knowing that this was the last time she would see Quinn in a long time. but eventually, Leia released Quinn, and watched with tears in her eyes as Ben and Quinn left. Years later, she never truly reconciled with the fact that Ben had killed Quinn, not wanting to think of her son as capable of such a deed. In the back of her mind, Leia believed there was a chance that Quinn had survived, but as the years went by with no sign of her, Leia resigned herself to the fact that Quinn was dead and mourned her daughter appropriately. But that all changed when Han told her that Quinn was still alive, and she saw their daughter with her own eyes. In that one small moment, her heart was almost whole again

Needless to say, there were tears all around, especially as Quinn pulled Han into the hug and she got to hug her parents together for the first time in 6 years

They all released at the same time, and Leia asked, “Quinn, where have you been this whole time?”

Quinn let out a small chuckle as she wiped tears off her face for the second time that day, “I think that might be a story for another time, seeing as we have a bigger problem”

Quinn turned as the surprising voice of BEE sounded behind them, “ _ You can say that again _ ”

Quinn’s initial shock quickly turned into annoyance as she glared down at the droid, “BEE? Just what in the bloody blue blazes are you doing here? You should be back at the ship”

BEE’s little head moved back in the droid equivalent of annoyance as she said “ _ I hate getting assigned to ship duty, you know that _ ”

Quinn sighed deeply, the kind of sigh typically used by exasperated parents, and she explained, “I always put you on ship duty so that you don’t get hurt. It’s not supposed to be fun; it’s supposed to keep you safe. Not to mention it helps us stay out of the kind of trouble your big mouth could cause if you came with us on raids. Now, please get back to the ship before I decide to deactivate you permanently”

“Wait, ‘raids’?” Quinn looked up to see Leia’s face filled with concern as she asked, “What kind of raids are we talking about? And who is this droid anyways? And what did you both mean by ‘ship’?”

Quinn sighed, deciding that this wasn’t the time and place that she wanted to talk about it, “Those are all lovely topics for a later conversation. Unfortunately, right now I need to get back to my crew”

“Too late” Stelle’s apologetic voice came from behind Quinn, “We’re already here”

Quinn turned to see Stelle and Aiden coming up to where Quinn was standing with Han and Leia. Shocked and still slightly annoyed from BEE, Quinn sighed and asked, “Why are you two here?”

Slightly out of breath, Aiden said, “Well, we were trying to tell you that BEE had rolled off somewhere, but you turned your communicator off, so we had no way of contacting you”

Stelle picked up the story so Aiden could finish catching his breath, “So naturally, we ran off to find either BEE or you, whichever one we caught up to first”

Quinn raised an eyebrow, hands on her hips, “So, you’re telling me that The Eclipse is currently unoccupied?”

Stelle hesitated for a second, and then realized their mistake, “Oh…yeah…sorry”

The annoyance in Quinn’s voice started rising right along with its volume, “You left my ship unmanned?  _ MY _ ship?!”

Before Quinn could continue letting her anger loose on Stelle and Aiden, Leia loudly cleared her throat and said, “Are you going to introduce us, Quinn, or are you just going to yell at them all day?”

Realizing how badly she had snapped at them, Quinn quickly looked apologetic, “Oh, right, I’m sorry guys. Mom, Dad, meet Estellameer Ridley and Aiden Blackmore. Guys, these are my parents”

Stelle looked like she had seen an angel as she held out her hand and said, “You can call me Stelle”

Leia shook her hand, a slight smile on her face, “Well, it’s very nice to meet you both”

“Ridley?” Han asked, shaking Stelle’s hand, “As in the Spice trading Ridleys?”

Stelle immediately looked tense, defensive, and a bit awkward as she replied hesitantly, “…yes…why? Have you had any dealings with them?”

“No,” Han said, “But I’ve heard of them”

Aiden, with a starstruck look on his face, asked, “Is the Millennium Falcon somewhere around here?

Stelle and Quinn looked curiously over at where Aiden was just staring dumbfounded at Han, who answered, “uh…yeah

Aiden turned to Quinn, “Please convince your father to let me fly with him, Quinn. Please? This could be my only chance to fly in the Millennium Falcon”

Quinn rolled her eyes, “No, Aiden, I am not convincing my dad to let you fly with him, at least not right now. Maybe I can get you a tour when we get to the Resistance base, ok? Now, can we get back to my ship before something bad happens?”

“Not so fast, Quinn.” Leia said, “I want you to come with me to the base”

“What? Why?”

Leia gently took Quinn’s hand, “Well, because I know we have a lot to talk about, and we might as well do it on the way”

Quinn sighed, and then smiled, “Ok mom, but can you at least give Stelle and Aiden the coordinates to the Resistance base before we leave?”

“Of course,” Leia said, “we’ll be leaving shortly so I’ll make it quick.”

After she gave Stelle and Aiden the coordinates, Han turned to walk Leia back to her ship while Quinn turned to face Stelle and Aiden, currently in ‘ _ Captain mode’ _ , “Listen up. I know it's a short trip but that doesn’t change the fact that I want my ship at the base, and I want it all in one piece, ok?”

Stelle and Aiden nodded emphatically, knowing how much The Eclipse meant to Quinn

“Very good,” Quinn continued, “As of right now, Stelle’s in charge, and BEE?”

The small droid moved her head to the side, showing that she was paying attention, “ _ Yes? _ ”

“You had better not cause trouble for these two, because if you do, I will scrap you and find a replacement droid. Got it?”

BEE’s head nodded slightly, knowing that Quinn didn’t make idle threats, “ _ Aye Aye, Captain _ ”

“Good. Alright, I will see you guys at the base, I guess. Remember, I want the ship back in one piece, ok?”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it Quinn. Don’t worry,” Stelle put her hand on Quinn’s shoulder, trying to reassure her, “We will be fine. Now, you should go meet up with your mom, she’s probably waiting for you”

…

The rest of the passengers onboard Leia’s ship had moved to the other end of the ship in an effort to give Leia and Quinn some privacy. Soon enough, they were making their way through hyperspace and on course towards the Resistance base. Once they were in hyperspace, Leia turned to Quinn and said, “So, Quinn, why don’t you tell me where you’ve been and what you’ve been up to?”

Quinn chuckled slightly and asked, “Well…where exactly do you want me to start?

Leia smiled, “Oh, where all good stories start. At the beginning”

Quinn sighed as she got ready to tell her story for the second time over the course of a few hours, “Ok, well…It all started when Ben attacked the Jedi Academy…”

…

A few moments passed in silence after Quinn finished her story as Leia processed all the information she was just presented with, and then an odd look came over her face

Quinn arched an eyebrow, unsure of what was going through Leia’s head, “Mom…why are you looking at me like that?”

“Well, at first I was slightly upset that you hid from your father and me for so long, but then, after an exceptionally long moment of consideration, I actually think a slight bit of pride is in order. After all, considering all you’ve been through, I don’t think we can really blame you for hiding”

Quinn let out a slight sigh of relief, and then said, apologetically, “I am  _ really _ sorry that I didn’t let you and Dad know I was alive. In hindsight, I should have just told you both before going into hiding, but in the moment, I was so scarred, and alone, and I just didn’t know what to do. So, I just never told you, and for that, I am terribly sorry”

Leia took hold of Quinn’s hands, giving them a gentle loving squeeze, “Oh, it’s ok, sweetheart, really. You did what you thought was best, and I, for one, can respect that”

After another brief moment of awkward silence, Quinn piped up, “So, did what happened with Ben and I cause you and Dad to separate, or was there something else?”

Now it was Leia’s turn to look awkward, “That…is a complicated answer, and one that I’m not quite ready to get into at the moment”

Quinn nodded, “I understand. I just dumped a ton of info on you, it would be unfair of me to expect you to be focused on something else”

Leia wrapped an arm around Quinn’s shoulder, pulling her closer, “The only thing I’m focused on is that I have my daughter back from the dead, and that is enough for me”

Quinn leaned in closer, enjoying the physical affection, “I really missed you, Mom”

Leia sighed, kissed Quinn’s forehead, and whispered, “Not as much as I missed you, Quinn”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please feel free to leave a comment! Let me know how I'm doing! Any feedback is welcome, and any kudos or review is greatly appreciated!
> 
> P.S. This has been re-written and edited since its original posting, so feel free to read it again as the "new-and-improved-version"

After Stelle had put in the coordinates and the Eclipse was safely on course, she leaned back in her chair and took a deep breath, looking over at Aiden and exclaiming, “Dude”

“I know” Aiden was still a little wide eyed from meeting one of his role models

“Is this a dream? Am I going to wake up and be back working with Albion?”

“Here, let me check” Aiden reached over and pinched Stelle’s non-robotic arm. She let out a yelp of pain and punched him in the shoulder. Wincing, Aiden said, “Well, I guess you’re not dreaming” 

“That’s good…I guess. Man, I think this has got to be one of the craziest days of my entire life. First, we reunite with Quinn to join the Resistance, then next thing you know she tells us that she used to be a Jedi, that her parents just happened to be our personal idols and that her brother is one of the worst people in the galaxy. Then to top it all off, we survived an attack from The First Order, are technically part of the Resistance now, and just met our idols, all in the span of a few hours”

“When you put it like that, it does sound kind of crazy”

“’Kind of crazy’? Dude, it sounds absolutely insane.” 

“Sort of makes you wish for the good ol’ days when our biggest concern was making sure we weren’t caught after a bar fight”

Stelle chuckled slightly at the ridiculousness of the whole situation, and leaned over towards Aiden, “Do you remember how mad Quinn got the first time we initiated a really big bar fight?”

“Of course! I still have nightmares about it”

“She looked as if she was going to rip our heads clean off with nothing but her bare hands”

“Good thing she eventually got over it, or else we wouldn’t be alive right now”

They both chuckled and Aiden added, “Remember that time we almost crashed The Eclipse on our way to rescue Quinn?”

Stelle laughed, “Oh man, that was the first time my life had ever flashed before my eyes, yet I was more terrified about how Quinn was going to react than I was about us surviving a crash”

Aiden nodded, a smile still on his face, “I don’t think she let either of us anywhere near the cockpit for over a month after that”

Stelle leaned back in her chair, the air of nostalgia on her face, “Yeah, that was the first time I became second gunner instead of being co-pilot… and I hated every second of it”

After seeing the offended look on Aiden’s face, she added, “No offensive, Aiden, I just wasn’t built to be a gunner”

“Just like I’m not built to be a co-pilot, and BEE’s not built to be useful”

“I heard that” BEE’s voice sounded from behind both of them, and as she rolled into the cockpit, Aiden said, smiling, “Look at that, the junk pile lives”

BEE flashed Aiden the droid version of glaring daggers and said, “Says the human equivalent of a junk pile”

Quickly spotting a potential fight about to happen, Stelle quickly intervened, “Ok, ok, that’s enough from the two of you. I really don’t want to deal with you guys fighting”

Looking sheepish, Aiden nodded in silent agreement as BEE also bobbed her head in acknowledgement. Nodding once in satisfaction, Stelle turned to check that they were still on track to the rebel base. Not wanting to cause untoward annoyance for Stelle, Aiden and BEE both remained silent lest they start an argument again. But after several minutes of quiet, Stelle sighed and said, “You guys can still talk, you know. The silence feels really weird”

Aiden cleared his throat, “I know, it’s just I didn’t want to risk another fight”

“Indeed. I wouldn’t like to make you or Quinn mad”

Stelle sighed, “Well, thank you both for your consideration of my feelings”

The cockpit got quiet again until Stelle, with a more serious look on her face, turned to Aiden and asked, “Hey, was it just me or did Quinn seem a little…touchier than usual, back with her parents”

Aiden nodded, leaning towards Stelle, “Yeah, I noticed that too”

“What do you think was up with her?”

Aiden shrugged, “I bet she was just going through a lot and us being there probably didn’t help”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, come on, Stelle, really? She’s been hiding from her parents for almost 6 years and then she accidentally runs into not just one, but both of her parents in the same day? I mean, I would be internally freaking out that whole time. I can’t even imagine what Quinn is going through right now”

“But family reunions are usually happy occasions, right?”

“Trust me, family is complicated, and especially a family like Quinn’s. Not to mention I’m quite sure Kylo Ren was there during the attack today, and him being present like that probably messed with Quinn mentally way more than just reuniting with her parents”

“Yeah, you’re probably right” Stelle sighed, looking out the cockpit at the hyperspace tunnel they were travelling in. She looked sad, even though she was obviously trying to hide it. Aiden leaned farther over towards her and asked quietly, “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Taking a deep breath, Stelle’s eyes looked suspiciously wet as she said, “Oh, it’s just…it’s nothing, really, Aiden”

Raising an eyebrow, Aiden said, “Stelle, I know that look and I know that it’s not nothing. So, what’s wrong?”

Stelle got quiet as she considered for a moment, and then answered, “It’s just that, I haven’t seen my family in almost 7 years, and seeing Quinn with hers just made me remember how I will most likely never have a reunion like that”

Aiden nodded slightly, his face growing more serious, “Yeah…well, you’re not alone. I thought that too”

Stelle looked confused, “You did?”

Aiden nodded again, “Yeah. I lost both my parents and my baby siblings when I was only 13. Trust me, I would do anything to reunite with them”

Stelle put a hand on his shoulder, “Oh Aiden, I am so sorry”

“No, it’s ok, really. It’s always nice to remember them”

Just now realizing that they knew truly little about each other’s lives before they went on the run, Stelle took the opportunity to ask more questions, “Was that what pushed you into becoming a smuggler?”

“Well, kind of.” Aiden grew more silent, before saying, “I’m sorry, it’s just…my old line of work is kind of a tender subject”

Stelle mentally beat herself up for trying to probe into his past, saying apologetically, “Right…sorry. Kind of overstepped boundaries, didn’t I? 

Aiden smiled slightly, “Yeah, kind of. But it’s you, so it’s all ok”

Stelle was about to respond, but at that moment the ship dropped out of hyperspace over a small planet, looking very green and grey from where Stelle and Aiden could see it. Sighing in relief, Stelle said, “Thank goodness. Saved from awkwardness by the mission at hand”

Aiden put a hand on her shoulder and said, “Hey, it’s ok. At least I know you care enough to want to know”

“Yeah, I got my intense curiosity from my mom, so, blame her if I ever try to push you for information”

Aiden chuckled, “Well ok, duly noted. Now, why don’t we land and see how Quinn is doing?”

“That’s the first good idea you’ve had” BEE butted into the conversation

Aiden opened his mouth to argue but one glare from Stelle silenced that thought before he ever had a chance to say it


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please feel free to leave a comment! Let me know what I'm doing wrong, or right. Any feedback is welcome, and any kudos or review is greatly appreciated!
> 
> P.S. This has been re-written and edited since its original posting, so feel free to read it again as the "new-and-improved-version"

As Quinn exited Leia’s ship, she made an immediate beeline towards the shipyard, her eyes on a sharp lookout for the Eclipse. She knew she was probably being a tad overprotective about her ship, but Quinn just couldn’t help it. The Eclipse was more than just a ship. It represented everything good that she had been able to build for herself after she went into hiding. It held warm and happy memories of the early days with Stelle and Aiden, when they were first getting to know each other. Three strangers soon turned into three good friends, and eventually, they were just family to each other. The Eclipse had been with them through the good times, the bad times, and the crazy times, and as much as she didn’t like to admit out loud, it was also Quinn’s safe space; a place where, no matter what was happening out in the galaxy, she felt secure and protected, and it gave her the safety to feel vulnerable too, and experience emotions that she wouldn’t have been comfortable with feeling anywhere else. Being in or near the Eclipse just made Quinn feel right, so naturally, she hated being separated from it, and her crew. Even though Stelle and Aiden had been gone for almost 6 months prior, over the past half a day it had felt like Quinn’s life had shifted right back to feeling normal

Letting out a worried sigh, Quinn scanned the shipyard, trying to ignore the general hustle and bustle of the Resistance base as her mind was focused on one clear goal: her ship and crew. Finally, after a few minutes of fruitless searching, she spotted the familiar patched together hull of The Eclipse, almost hidden behind two other ships. Quinn quickly ran over to its landing area, holding back a smile as she finally saw up close how jarringly out of place it was, surrounded by X-wings and Resistance ships. 

Right as she arrived, the cargo door opened as Stelle and Aiden exited, BEE following close at their heels. Upon seeing Quinn, Stelle’s face lit up as she asked, “Hey, what are you doing here?

Crossing her arms, Quinn responded, “I’m just making sure my ship made it back safely”

“Right, because our safety is  _ nothing  _ compared to the safety of The Eclipse” Aiden chimed in, not even trying to keep the snark out of his voice

“That’s not what I meant, I-” Quinn sighed instead of finishing that sentence. She knew it was useless to defend herself when Aiden got snarky.

“It’s ok,” Stelle interjected, “We were just curious why you were here to greet us, instead of staying with your parents”

“Yeah, about that…” Quinn’s posture shifted from confident-and-in-charge to guilty and uncomfortable, choosing to look at her feet instead of making eye contact with Stelle

“Let me guess,” Stelle said, “you feel awkward around your parents and the ship makes you feel safe?”

Quinn looked up, amazed, “How’d you figure that out so quickly?”

“Because I’m very observant,  _ and _ I know how I would feel in this situation. Plus, we all know The Eclipse is basically your one and only safe space, so it’s not that hard to piece together”

“Well, you’re right. I’ve been pretending to be dead so long, I don’t even remember what talking to my parents is supposed to feel like. Now, it just feels both comforting and awkward, and I don’t even know how those two feelings can coexist, but they do, and I don’t like it. I just needed a few minutes to myself to get into the right mindset before I talk to them again”

“That’s totally understandable,” Aiden chimed in, “I bet it’s weird for them too. I mean, they just got their daughter back from the dead. That’s not going to be an easy transition to accept completely, and they probably want a few minutes to process their emotions as well”

“Thank you for that, Aiden. Believe it or not, that does make me feel a little better. So, did I miss any important conversation while you guys were alone in the cockpit?”

“No, not really. We just talked about how crazy the past day and half has been”

Quinn snorted slightly, “Well, I think ‘Crazy’ is an understatement”

“True, but would it really be a true Eclipse adventure if it wasn’t crazy?”

Stelle’s comment made Quinn chuckle a little, which was the closest thing to a smile or laugh that they had seen on Quinn’s face since she told them about her past. Nodding slightly as well, Quinn agreed, “That’s very true, although I don’t think it counts as a real Eclipse adventure if there isn’t at least one good ol’ fashioned getaway from First Order ships”

“While true, I think the fight you just had against all those Stormtroopers makes up for an epic aerial chase, don’t you?”

“I guess that counts. Honestly, it just felt good to fight with my sabers for once”

Aiden sighed with disappointment, “I’m bummed that we missed out on watching you slice your way through all those troopers”

“I know, I’m sorry I didn’t notify you guys sooner about what was happening, but in all fairness, it all happened so quickly that it was hard not to focus on the immediate problems at hand. I promise that I’ll call you guys next time I enter a fight with a platoon of First Order troopers”

A smile broke on Aiden’s face as he said, “Well then, I guess we’ll just have to hold you to that promise” 


End file.
